In the height of summer, there is nothing more enticing than a juicy, bright yellow peach. Just the thought of biting into that soft, fuzz-covered flesh and licking the sticky juices off my hands makes me sigh with delight! To be honest, I’ve been taking advantage of the season’s bounty by indulging in at least one peach per day, and yet, I still end up with a little bowl full of them at the end of the week. So, of course, with extra peaches, one must make peach pie.

Luckily, my French friend, Marie, is an expert at baking and can work wonders with summer fruits. I called her up and asked Marie to put this recipe together for you, but be forewarned, much like myself, this baking whiz is occasionally bad at following recipes to the T. Instead, the two of us had a blast concocting this recipe from scratch, adjusting and re-evaluating as we went along. We’ve done our best here to compile a real, workable recipe for you all to follow, but if something doesn’t look quite right to your eye, please, please feel free to play with it! If you like your pie extra sweet, toss in another handful of sugar. If you’re feeling creamy, mix in some extra almond paste. Whatever you do, make sure your peaches are ripe and good quality (local and organic if you can get it!) for maximum flavor impact and good feels all around.

1 cup coconut oil (cold enough to be completely solid *ideally, you'll measure out a cup and set it in the fridge the night before you bake)

3-7 tbsp cold almond milk (can substitute ice water)

Directions for crust:

Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

Using a fork, shave coconut oil into tiny pieces and add gradually to the dry mixture. Using your hands or a fork (or one of those fancy mashing tools), mash everything together until it looks like wet sand.

Add almond milk one tablespoon at a time, mixing with a wooden spoon until a dough forms. Dough should be slightly sticky and bounce back slowly when gently poked.

Divide dough in two and roll into balls. They should be smooth on the outside and should not stick to the bowl too much.

Set to rest in refrigerator for 10 minutes before rolling out the first ball. Dough will keep for up to a week if covered, so you can always do this ahead of time.

When you're ready to roll out your dough, prepare a generously floured surface. Rub flour into the surface of your dough ball as well.

In the center of your surface, smoosh ball into a thick pancake, then roll out into a circle that is 1/8 inch thick all over.

Gently lift dough and transfer to your pie pan. If it cracks or crumbles, you can simply press it into your pie pan, covering any holes.

For bottom crust, poke with a fork a few times to help release air when cooking.

Ingredients for filling:

4-5 peaches

1/4 cup turbinado sugar

2 tbsp maple sugar

1/2 banana

1/4 cup almonds

2 tbsp water

Directions for filling & finishing:

Preheat oven to 350*F.

Add almonds, banana and water to blender. Blitz on high until a rough paste is formed. Spread onto the bottom of your pie crust. Dust with sugar.

Slice peaches into half-moon shapes. Arrange them in a circular pattern atop the almond paste, dusting with the rest of the sugars as you go.

Roll out and gently place the second half of your dough atop the pie. Pinch the edges of the top and bottom crusts together to form a ridge.

Make small cuts in the shape of a star in the center of your top crust. You can make more decorative cuts around the rest of the top crust if so desired.

Slide pie into the oven and set a timer for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, check pie regularly (about every 5 minutes) until it is golden brown and the peaches are bubbling.